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OTTAWA—Prime Minister Stephen Harper will use the extra time before Parliament reopens to work up a set of priorities to carry the Conservatives into the 2015 election. But it is shaping up as a cut-rate agenda focused around cutting Ottawa’s $18-billion budget deficit.

By officially closing down Parliament and opening a new session in the second half of October, Harper can use the traditional speech from the throne to showcase the government’s legislative plans for the second half of its majority mandate.

But insiders stress that eliminating the budget deficit in time for the next election is crucial. Before the 2011 vote, Harper promised a raft of popular tax breaks — all contingent on balancing Ottawa’s books.

Failure to fulfil these pledges might incite voters’ wrath, meaning fresh initiatives that involve significant spending by Ottawa are highly doubtful in the next two years.

Harper says the economy will remain the Conservatives’ prime focus. But Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is expected to follow up the throne speech with a budget next winter that will be a steady-as-she-goes strategy for keeping spending in check.

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Putting off the end of Parliament’s summer break to late October will also spare Harper a month or so of being hammered daily in the Commons over Senate spending outrages.

It’s not unusual for governments to briefly close — or prorogue — the House of Commons and Senate to recast their legislative agenda. But opposition parties are accusing Harper of dodging accountability on the Senate scandal and other issues. There was no need to postpone Parliament’s return, the opposition argues.

“Some will tell you that proroguing is part of the prerogatives of the government,” New Democrat Leader Thomas Mulcair said. “However, they tend to forget that Mr. Harper did two things yesterday: he prorogued, but he also decided that Parliament wasn’t coming back, so the people who have been elected and put there to ask questions on your behalf and on behalf of all Canadians, won’t be able to do it because Mr. Harper has gone into hiding,” Mulcair told reporters in Montreal on Tuesday. “That’s certainly not a way to behave in a democracy.”

While depriving opposition MPs of a chance to grill Harper about the Senate scandal, Harper’s planned prorogation will have very little impact on how the Senate is dealing with Sen. Pamela Wallin’s expense claims.

That’s because the Senate committee on internal economy can continue working through prorogation.

“The letters have been sent. We are monitoring expenses. We have referred the matter to the authorities,” said Conservative Sen. Gerald Comeau, chairman of the Senate internal economy committee.

Harper rejected charges that he will seek to suspend Parliament to avoid questions on the Senate.

“There is a need to refresh legislation, we will be very busy during the fall as we have been very busy in the summer. I look forward to bringing forward new legislation and continuing to focus on jobs and growth,” Harper said.

While Harper said his majority government has put most of its proposed new laws in place, several controversial measures could be left in limbo if Parliament is prorogued.

These include proposals to clamp down on loans to political candidates, impose term limits on senators and tighten rules for releasing offenders found not criminally responsible for their actions.

Also in limbo would be Bill C-377, a controversial private member’s bill that requires unions to publish detailed internal financial information.

Unfinished legislation expires once Parliament is prorogued, but the Conservatives could move in the next session to reinstate bills already in the law-making process.

Another measure the government might rethink before a throne speech is the Canada Job Grant, a skills training measure that highlighted Flaherty’s last budget. The plan has run into stiff resistance from the provinces and faces an uncertain future.

Besides the economy and jobs, the throne speech is expected to emphasize the federal government’s tough-on-crime thrust, the importance of natural resource development and Canada’s stance in world affairs.

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